A Sense of Duty: A Former Navy SEAL Falls in Love and Begins a New Journey with his Private Consulting Company: Dark Horse Guardians (3 page)

Ben was understated. He looked down at her and winked. He proved to be an imposing figure to her five foot nine inch frame. They planned to meet in Professor Harris' office the next day late in the afternoon to walk Einstein. Ben smiled. His dimples added to his charm. He took her hand, lifted it to his lips and gently kissed it. A warm sensation ran through Lara and she blushed. She had never had a man kiss her hand. Ben had been flirting with her all evening. As he turned to walk toward the campus, Lara stepped into the hallway and fumbled with the lock. Her face was flushed, her heart pounding. All of her senses were heightened as if she had just encountered someone dangerous yet exciting. For a moment, she leaned against the wall as she listened to Ben's receding footsteps. Then she walked up the short creaky staircase to her apartment door. Ben's face was etched in her memory as she replayed the conversations of the evening over in her mind.

The entry lamp cast an inviting glow upon the parlor as she dropped her keys into the candy dish. Her tiny apartment had three rooms and a bath. The kitchen, once a butler's pantry, was modern but tiny. White marble counters and subway tile contrasted with the sleek stainless steel appliances. There was a small bistro table with two chairs in the corner near the window. Her bedroom was medium sized and held a queen-size bed with a carved Mahoney antique frame, a white velvet settee, a small marble topped night table, and a lovely crystal chandelier. There was also a small boudoir lamp on the night table, plus a tall Victorian lamp for reading near the settee. An antique vanity held her personal items. The draperies were a soft green silk with a subtle pattern of leaves. A large arrangement of fresh white roses stood in the corner on a plaster pedestal, a gift from Eliot Stone. They infused her bedroom with the wonderful scent of summer. The white chenille bedspread had a circular pattern of swirls with fringed edges. Floral throw pillows with peonies depicted on them covered her bed. The parlor was the largest room with a huge window, down-filled sofa, a chair and ottoman, and several side tables. There was also a working fireplace that had been converted to gas. There was a small space near the doorway that was sectioned off by a half wall. Lara had an entry table there and an ornately carved Victorian wall unit complete with hooks, storage bench, and mirror. Her heavy pink leather sack slid to the floor as she kicked off her boots. She was immersed in thought. It was late and she was usually exhausted at this hour, but she could not sleep. Lara needed a cold ginger ale and her computer, in that order.

As she opened her laptop Lara Googled Benjamin Aiden Keegan and her breath quickened. Sifting through the hits that came up, she found an article about him. Then she found a copy of his high school yearbook on Google, so he was the top graduate of 2001 of his high school class. She was impressed. But she was more impressed when she saw his U.S. Naval Academy photo. He looked so young; Lara guessed he was twenty years old. The articles she read about Ben described him as a successful and highly paid consultant, owner of Dark Horse Guardians, LLC. In a Canadian news article she came across a picture of Ben with his wife, Sienna, and his son, William. Lara's heart raced. The photograph was taken three years ago, in Vancouver. They had attended a star-studded charitable event. Zooming in on the photograph, Lara scrutinized it on the screen. A former model, Sienna was a skeletal blonde with big brown eyes. Ben's son, William, looked like his mother, blonde and gaunt, five years old in the photo.
Oh god, Lara thought - is Ben still married?
Immediately she searched government websites in Canada to find out if there was any record of his marriage or divorce. She spent hours on-line searching for articles about him, and only found a few details. But no divorce record was found. As she closed the laptop, Lara had only served to whet her appetite for more information about Benjamin Aiden Keegan. She took a hot shower and fell asleep exhausted with Ben's blue eyes the beginning of her dream.

~Ben~

As he walked back toward the campus, Ben examined the beautiful Victorian houses in the neighborhood, hoping that one would have a vacancy. He made a mental note to canvas the landlords in the area. He needed to be close to the campus for his teaching position and to set up shop for his consulting business, Dark Horse. The night air was refreshing. He noticed Lara admiring the flower gardens as they passed them naming each type of plant. He got the sense that she loved flowers, and nature, overall. She especially loved the peonies in the flower bed in front of her Victorian porch.

He had many details to turn over in his mind now that he had physically met her. Ben smiled to himself as he reviewed the finer points of tonight's meeting. The initial introduction went much better than he had envisioned. She was more beautiful than he had imagined her to be. He kissed her hand. She agreed to see him tomorrow. He was walking on air. He pictured her searching right now on-line in an attempt to learn as much about him as possible. Lara would discover the information that had been selected and planted on the internet about him. His public persona had just enough detail to satisfy the average person, but would be enough to kindle a desire in Lara for more. The things she would not know about him was that he was in the middle of his own holy war, but it wasn't called a jihad where he came from. He was a consultant for the CIA, and also served other foreign intelligence agencies. Lara would discover Ben's history gradually, as he placed the bread crumbs for her to find, one by one. He was no ordinary guy; he had to be certain that she could handle the lifestyle he had chosen. No other woman could, and he hated the corner of stark loneliness that he had painted himself into.

The handsome dark-haired former Navy SEAL
Lieutenant
walked into the weight room at the campus and spent ninety minutes doing push-ups, lifting weights and running on a treadmill. This was part of his daily routine wherever he happened to be. As he exercised, he marveled at how differently he had lived the thirty-one years of his life compared to Lara's twenty-four. Literally, Ben had traveled the world while Lara had remained in Portland Maine. But, as he pondered this difference, he also felt a strong, almost magnetic, pull to her. She was naïve and he could be her teacher, if she would let him. And, he knew Lara could domesticate him. There was one nagging issue that lingered in the back of Ben's mind. He needed detailed information on Eliot Stone. He knew Lara was seeing the owner of Stone and Associates outside of work occasionally, but had been informed that it was not a dating relationship, per se. He would run a background check on the guy and decided not to put it off. He found the name of Rusty McManus on his phone and asked him to take care of the background check. "Sure thing, chief." Ben hesitated, "Oh, and one more thing. Find out, if you can, if Lara O'Connell is seeing anyone else…dating or otherwise." Rusty said he would and hung up.

Ben clipped on Einstein's leash and got into his 2004 Dodge Ram pick-up truck to drive to his temporary home at his uncle's house. Professor Harris was sound asleep in the recliner when Ben entered the living room of the old colonial. The place smelled of pipe tobacco and roast beef. Not wanting to wake him, Ben walked upstairs to the second floor and put his laptop and phone on the table next to the bed. He ran his hand over his face as he peered at his reflection in the mirror over the old bureau. He definitely needed a shave. The bedroom was Spartan. There was only a bed, nightstand and bureau with an antique mirror hanging above it. The wallpaper was faded and peeling. Ben moved into the bathroom and got his shaving mug and straight razor. As he methodically shaved the black stubble from his face, he thought about the complexities of getting into a relationship with Lara. What if she didn't like him? What if Sienna would not give him the divorce? There were many important issues to be sorted out. He would put his training to good use and turn this into his private mission. But the nagging doubt was there in the back of his mind: could he make any woman happy? Would anyone fall in love with him? His life as a consultant was filled with upheaval and travel. All of his life he had been a nomad living out of a duffle bag, forgetting to shave, fanatically dedicated to physical fitness, exploring newly designed weaponry and staying on top of his training. He knew he had to eventually embrace a normal life and he needed a strong woman who could take on the daunting task of taming him.

He brushed his teeth and examined the dental implants. They still looked good. The oral surgeon had done a great job. Several of his teeth had to be replaced after an especially difficult period in Afghanistan. It was a minor thing compared to the broken bones and gunshot wounds he had repaired. Still, as he looked at himself in the mirror in the bright bathroom light he realized the mileage on his body was much higher than a typical thirty-one year old.

When alone like this, his mind would wander to his SEAL brothers, Sam, Javier, Gus, Nate, Elvis, Tom, and Jake. He missed them so much his heart ached. Even though five were still with him as operatives, it wasn't the same. The devotion he felt toward them took the place of a romantic relationship for most of his life. They were more than brothers; they were warriors bound together by the same philosophy. They slept, ate, and lived together in the
smoke-filled air of Iraq and Afghanistan for six years. They laughed and suffered together and saved one another's lives on more than one occasion. The reality was ever present: each day lived with them could be the last day. This was a life lesson that would never leave him. Ben lived every day with deliberation, fixated on the smallest details, noticing things that ordinary people overlooked: the sun glistening on the water, the stillness when the wind stopped, the sound of bird song, the beauty of the beginning of a rain shower. He had become extremely grateful for things that most people took for granted.

In solitude, Ben's thoughts drifted back to the men he
so admired in his unit. Gus, a six-foot four football player with his blonde hair shaved close to his head. He was a gentle giant, a highly skilled sniper from Tennessee. He also was an accomplished medic. Ben thought of Nate who joked he was Ben's twin from another mother. Nate was so similar to Ben it was uncanny. Irish with black hair and blue eyes, Ben called him mini-me, and never let Nate forget he was smaller. Nate stood at five nine and had trouble maintaining a weight of 160. He somehow got tagged with the name "Shrimp". He didn't care what anyone called him because he was the cool one under pressure. Nate's specialties were linguistics and communications and he had the uncanny ability to keep his head when all about him were losing theirs. The world could be coming to an end, but Nate would analyze the situation and deliver the best case scenario, then plan B, plan C, and could roll with it like no other soldier he knew. Ben knew all of his childhood stories and came to the conclusion that it was Nate's sense of humor and joining the Navy that saved him. Nate grew up in San Diego California in difficult circumstances; his mother died when he was ten and his father raised him and five other siblings doing the best he could. Ben was convinced if Nate had not joined the Navy when he did, his life would have been very different. The Navy gave him the sense of belonging he needed.

The opposite of Nate was Elvis. Ben owed him his life. He physically carried Ben out during a rescue mission. Elvis was a brilliant and talented mechanic, second lieutenant. A tall dark SEAL, he was six-foot-six and referred to himself as "Ninja". His jet black hair was longer than the others and he slicked it straight back. He actually bore resemblance to Elvis Presley, right down to the blue eyes. Ben enjoyed watching his excursions with the ladies. With Elvis in the room you could be assured there would be a lot of fun. He was the joker in the group, always setting up pranks and his imagination had no limits. Elvis was known for his entertaining imitations of SEAL instructors that would send the whole unit into side-splitting laughter. He was the heavy weapons operator and air operations master. His I.Q. was the highest in the group, although you might not think so if you listened to his low-country Southern drawl. Elvis was a story teller and knew just how to weave a tale to suck you in for the punch line. He delighted in telling tall tales, then watching your face when he told you it was all make believe.

Ben reflected on the crazy fun he always had in the company of Tom, a big loud wise cracking Leprechaun who was the unit's expert breacher. A six-foot-four red headed guy, when Tom grew a beard Ben teased him saying he looked like a giant Leprechaun, even though he suffered a beating for saying it. Tom had grown up on the tough streets of Chicago, and served as a highly skilled sniper and lead driver. Tom's side-kick, Jake, was actually his step-brother from Chicago. They both joined the Navy to escape the mean streets, not realizing they were jumping from the frying pan into a fire. Jake was a communications and reconnaissance expert. His light brown hair and brown eyes made him look completely different from his step-brother. He was thin and barely six feet tall. The one thing about Jake that Ben admired most was that he had the ability to boil the details of a situation down within a matter of seconds. His critical thinking skills were razor sharp.

Then there was Sam, a young man from Oregon who was a state finalist on his high school swim team. Sam was an accomplished surfer and swimmer and known for his laid back attitude. Ben enjoyed competitively swimming with Sam while in training. Sam did not return from their last deployment and Ben thought about him often wondering why things happened the way they did. He had no answers. An IED took his life on a routine recon mission. It was instantaneous. Sam was the lead scout and it was usually Ben. That night Ben was sick with a parasitic infection wreaking havoc with his gastrointestinal tract. Weak and unable to do much, he stayed in the middle of the unit, trying to stay hydrated. When he heard the blast, he knew what it was. He ran to Sam but it was too late. The memory of that night would haunt him forever.